Social media Influencers: The future of Marketing?

Social media Influencers, or what many companies from small businesses to big brands acknowledge them as the future of marketing. In the 21st century, brands want to avoid paying large fees to marketing firms. They prefer operate their marketing strategy in-house by using social media influencers. When you go into Instagram or Facebook, the chances you see people promoting brands or products in their profile are very high. These people are so-called by the social media communities as, Influencers. While you all have most likely heard about the term ‘Influencer,’ do you really know what they actually do on the social media platforms and what kind of impact they can give to brands?

In a way, Influencers are great storytellers. They deliver brand messages to online communities on social media platforms. Influencers usually create unique stories surrounding the brand and demonstrate why its product or services could solve a problem or even fulfill a need. With the number of digital consumers increasing every year, influencers can spread brand messages and expand their reach throughout social media platforms. Over the years, with more users using social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, etc.), the number of influencers has increased. As their impact and presence on social media platforms have skyrocketed, even big brands are approaching them. Without further ado, let me introduce you to some of the well-known brands that work with influencers.

Nike

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A post shared by Nike (@nike)

Nike is one of the biggest brands in the world that work with famous athletes or celebrities. Based on my experience browsing through social media, I can say all these years, they have been gaining a lot of attention in social media. In the past, Nike had been successful in promoting their brand even before social media exists. One of the examples is the Jordan brand, where they collaborated with NBA star Michael Jordan. And that has been one of the huge successes of Nike. Now with Social Media, Nike is even more successful in spreading brand messages to people. The best example to show their success is to look through the social media presence of the soccer megastar, Cristiano Ronaldo. Here are the statistics behind Ronaldo’s value to Nike. He is the most-followed person on Instagram; 21.7% of the overall total posts promote Nike via a Hashtag. Those posts generated over 450 million total interactions through likes, comments, shares, retweets, and views on videos.  Not only Cristiano, but Nike has also worked with other famous athletes such as Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Tiger woods, etc.

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A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

Sephora

Sephora is one of the most well-known retailers that sells personal care and beauty products. Sephora has a more unique influencer marketing program than other brands. Sephora puts part of the program’s decision-making into the micro-influencers’ hands that they recruited to become ambassadors of their brand. They are called #SephoraSquad, and their approach to this marketing campaign is to personalize the brand as a diverse group. The squad represents a different type of demographics ( age, gender, ethnicities, etc.) to put it another way. Through this method, Sephora was able to capture broad and niche audiences. The post-reaction to this campaign is a feeling of acceptance , acknowledgement, and respect for people with different online communities’ demographics.

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Bottom line, I personally think that social media influencers are a less costly and effective way to perform marketing activities or campaigns. However, I would like to hear your opinion about it. Do you think influencers are the future of marketing? Or are there any more methods you feel are better than having social media influencers as part of your marketing campaign? Leave a comment down below!